The Rosy Side

by Pastor Trey Comstock Blue and Lexington United Methodist Church

I’ve mentioned this before, but I am a Millennial. Generally, we get a bad rap at the moment, and I’m willing to admit that much of it is probably deserved. From the inside looking out, I can tell you that one of the obsessions of my generation is nostalgia. Some of you may at this point think that I’m crazy. Young people? Nostalgia? Don’t y’all have to have the newest thing? If you are talking about smart phones, yes, but for our popular culture, we keep looking back to what was big when we were kids. This is, in part, why super hero movies keep being remade alongside remakes from Power Rangers, Ninja Turtles, and the new Star Wars films. People stand in lines for hours just to see trailers for these movies. It’s an intense level of devotion. Vinyl record sales are booming. Online auction prices for old video games and iPods are through the roof. If it was big in the 1980s, 1990s, or early 2000s, Millennials cannot get enough.

Roll your eyes at us if you want, but, remember, we’re not the first to be like this. Think about all the guys who spend their later years trying to rebuild the car that they had as a 17- year-old. That is the same nostalgia. Or, think of the number of people in our community who keep our cowboy practices and heritage alive. This is also the same nostalgia. On some level, we all do this – long for a past time, often one simpler than today.

This speaks to our human need to connect with something transcendent, with something beyond ourselves. In our consumer culture, we buy things that connect us to an idealized past, but as my own growing vintage video game collection can attest, these things can never fully fulfill our needs.

I’m a pastor and this is a religious column, so my next statement is probably obvious. As humans, we are wired for transcendence because our need for God is hard wired into us. We seek to fill this need in so many other ways, but the simplest way is the only one that is effective. Seek after God and let your cup overflow.